By Chalcedony Williams
“So, fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:14-15 NLT
Where I live, there are two rival sports teams. It is not a healthy rivalry but a bitter one that goes beyond the sport. The rivalry between these teams is deep-rooted to the point where it is not acceptable to have an appreciation for both teams. You love one and hate the other, or you hate them both! On the surface, this may seem ridiculous – it’s only sports! But you would never want to find yourself in one team’s area wearing the other team’s colours.
When you look at the origins of the teams and what they stand for, this starts to make sense. At their heart, these teams were created to oppose each other. They represent hostile nations, contrasting cultures, opposing spiritual ideologies, and religious identities. The two are not compatible, and as a result, they have left no room for tolerance.
In today’s verses, the people of Israel were entering into a new land. God had rescued them from slavery in Egypt and delivered them from rival nations whilst they wandered in the wilderness – wandering that had been the result of them choosing to worship idols, and God had prepared a new home for them to be established as an independent nation with Him as their King. However, being a separate nation would mean rejecting the culture and identity of other nations, and having God as their King would mean rejecting all other rivals to His rule. For a long time, the people had struggled with this.
God is not like any other god; He is the one true living God, and He does not share His glory or position with any others, especially idols made from wood and stone by human hands. Being a part of the Kingdom of God means being distinct like God. He is holy, which means unique and set apart. In other words, He is not compatible with anything else. God is light, and everything outside of Him is darkness – the two do not go together, and the Father of Light will never tolerate His children engaging in the worship of darkness.
So, when two things are not compatible, what must we do? We must choose. Choose your side; choose your team. That is what Joshua commands the people of Israel – choose today who you will serve and serve him alone with all your heart, not a divided one. Notice the urgency, we can be fooled into thinking that we can sit on the fence. But refusing to choose is like choosing to hate both; the result is counting yourself out of being a part of the victory. Because Scripture is clear that, in the end, the light overcomes the darkness – this is good news. But you have to be in it to win it. So today, whilst it is today and whilst there is breath in your lungs, you have the opportunity to pick a team. Who will you serve?
Ask: Why did Joshua need to ask Israel to choose who they will serve?
Seek: What things may be causing your heart to be divided from serving God completely?
Knock: If you have not yet made a commitment to follow Jesus, make today the day you make that choice. If you are already following Jesus, rededicate your life to Him today and pray that you may serve Him with your whole heart.
